A Matter of Life or Death

A Matter of Life or Death

Sitting in the NICU, holding my newborn daughter. Looking around at the other babies. Hearing some of their stories. Mamas who went through 9 months of pregnancy, thinking everything was great. Labor, birth, ready to hold their beautiful baby in their arms. Instead, the baby is whisked away. What is wrong with my baby? Is she alive? Is she going to be ok?

Imagine, the most joyous day of your life, turns into you worst nightmare. All you can do, is trust the doctor is doing everything he can do, to keep your baby alive.

Finally, the doctor comes and explains what is going on. Then imagine, after hearing all the traumatic news, the doctor asks, “would you like kill your baby? Killing her now is no different if you had killed your baby before she was born.” Of course he wouldn’t use those words, probably just things like “blob of tissue” and “after-birth abortion.”

In the most intense moment of your life, you are handed a life-or-death decision. As the Doctor, who you trusted to save you child, instead offers to kill your baby?!

What parent wouldn’t want to punch the doctor in the face? And demand their child be transferred to the care of a doctor who actually wanted to do what doctors are supposed to do – save the baby’s life!

Who Gets to Choose?

Now let’s talk about babyCharlie Guard. You’ve probably seen his story circulating the internet lately. He had some major health complications. There was nothing the doctors in the UK could do for him. Charlie’s parents raised over 1 million dollars to take him to the USA for experimental treatment which may have saved his life. But the UK government basically said, “parents do not have the right to make such decisions on behalf of their child.” Sentencing Charlie to die in the UK hospital.

Now with those two stories in mind, imagine your baby is born with down-syndrome, treacher-collins-syndrom, or any other health condition which would make your child’s life less then “perfect.” Imagine the doctor offers “after-birth abortion,” but this time, you are not the one who get to make the decision. After explaining your baby’s health concerns, the Doctor announces the best option for your beautiful new baby, is death. Maybe he will let you hold your baby while she breathes her last, or maybe he already killed her, sparing you the pain of seeing her “suffering” while she was alive.

Are We Going to Repeat History?

Is this a system you want to live under?! Who decides what qualifications make you worthy to live? There’s a long list of thingswhich would disqualify you from joining the US military, including not being a US citizen, taking medication for ADHD, bad eyesight, overweight, allergies, eczema, having a felony, or even being transgender. What if they use that list to determine who is qualified to live? Most of us would be dead. But if you cannot fight in the military, do you even deserve to live?

Wait, killing a lot of people in order to create an civilization of only perfect people. Didn’t Hitler try that already? Why don’t people actually learn from history, instead of repeating it??!!!

The Beauty of Challenges

I look at my beautiful little NICU baby. Now two years old. As feisty, determined, and strong-willed as any other toddler. Our little Lioness has faced a lot of challenges, but she is a fighter and tackles them head-on. Every challenge has made her, and our whole family, stronger.

What if, 2 years ago, the doctor laid my daughter’s lifeless body in my arms saying, “I removed this potential inconvenience from your life, and spared her from the pain and suffering of surgeries, and getting teased for being different.”

I do not even want to imagine a world where that would be allowed to happen, and I imagine neither do you.

Becky is wife to Duane, mama to "Monkey-girl" and baby "Lioness" aka "PipSqueek." She is the administrative powerhouse for YWAM Bend and keeps our team grounded and organized. Her hope is to inspire and encourage other mamas in their journey to raise healthy, thriving families.